Charter comes through for SEC fans

Rest easy, Charter customers, your cable TV company has signed to carry the new SEC Network.

For Big Orange fans, this means you will get to see the University of Tennessee's football season opener at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 when the Vols play host to Utah State.

The only uncertainty is whether or not Charter customers will have to pay extra for the network. Charter's national customer service department said Thursday it did not have those details available.

Two weeks ago, we noted that Charter Communications was the only system among the nation's top-five cable television companies that had not signed to carry the SEC Network.

On Wednesday, ESPN and Charter announced they had reached an agreement, easing the concerns of Southeastern Conference sports fans wanting to see the 24/7 channel when it launches at 5 p.m. Thursday. With the addition of Charter, the SEC Network is available to more than 90 million households nationwide, according to the SEC.

In addition, a news release said that Charter subscribers will have the ability to "watch SEC Network live and on-demand content anytime, anywhere on their television, computer, tablet or mobile device."

That means if you're driving to Granny's house, you can watch the game en route. ... On second thought, you better stay focused on the road and just listen to the action.

I'm betting the SEC Network will be available at no extra charge on Charter's expanded basic service, which the vast majority of its customers already enjoy.

That would fall in line with what other cable providers have decided, including EPlus Broadband, the television cable service offered by Jackson Energy Authority.

EPlus, which is only available to JEA customers, will show the SEC Network on Channel 27 and, for high definition, Channel 277. Charter has not announced its channel selection for the network.

Steve Bowers, TV media manager for JEA, said the excitement generated by the SEC Network is uncommon.

"There has been a lot of interest in it from our cable customers, probably as much as anything I can remember," Bowers said. "They were calling, wanting to know if we were going to carry the network. A lot of people in our company said friends were asking them about it.

"For a cable provider doing business in the South, you would not want to be in a competitive market and not have the SEC Network."

ESPN is behind the new network. It signed a 20-year deal with the Southeastern Conference to provide unprecedented television coverage of SEC sports. It plans to annually broadcast about 45 football games, 100 men's and 60 women's basketball games, 75 baseball games and other sports.

Launching the network in August was a no-brainer, given the popularity of football in the South. The SEC Network plans to air three football games involving SEC teams each Saturday and feature all 14 conference members within the first month of this football season.

The live action kicks off on Aug. 28 when South Carolina plays host to Texas A&M at 5 p.m. and Temple visits Vanderbilt at 8:15 p.m.

On Aug. 30, the network will show UT Martin at Kentucky at 11 a.m., Arkansas at Auburn at 3 p.m. and Southern Mississippi at Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m.

Re-airings of "classic" SEC football games will be a key feature, especially in the network's first two weeks when it airs 67 classics. Bama fans will be happy to know that the first four will be Alabama victories. The first, at 1 a.m. Friday, is the 2009 SEC championship game when the Tide beat Florida to give coach Nick Saban his first league title.

Tennessee gets its first "classic" spotlight at 6 a.m. Saturday when its national championship victory over Florida State in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl will be shown.

We're just glad Charter got on board with the SEC Network. Now its customers at least have the option of watching Sam Houston State at LSU or turning to Andy Griffith reruns, the latter of which will probably be the better choice.

Dan Morris can be reached at 668-1709 or by email at danmorris44@charter.net.